Respond to a crisis. Don’t react.

It does not matter if it is an employee-error, high profile litigation, government investigation or industrial accident, if something happens a response needs to be immediate, decisive and strategic.

When faced with a crisis, damage to a company or individual’s reputation can be devastating. Business executives must be ready to respond to protect their reputation, employees, shareholder and brand.

To prevent a crisis it is always helpful to be prepared and have a plan in place however, there are many companies who fail to plan for potential crises. Consequently, many companies react to a crisis rather than respond.

When companies react they are most likely not thinking through the impact of their response and action in leading to that response. At a minimum then, companies should have a public relations firm on retainer or at least on the tip of their mind when something happens.